On 3 February 1842, Baptist missionaries Mr Clarke and Dr Prince boarded the Barque Mary at Bassipa, a new settlement established by London merchant Robert Jamieson on the island of Fernando Po, Equatorial Guinea. Their destination was Liverpool. The voyage was stalked by disaster from the outset. On 11 February, the main mast was struck by lightning in a storm, and a crew member was killed. On 25 March, the mast fell onto the deck bringing down sails and rigging, leaving the ship adrift at the mercy of the waves.
On 29 March, two vessels were sighted and signalled. The first, a French whaler, refused to aid the stricken mariners. The second, the Kate Nickleby of Glasgow, came alongside. She was bound for her home port. However, the captain of the Kate Nickleby was dealing with his own challenges. He did not want to refuse assistance, but he had on board four deranged crew members; drinking water was low, and there was little space. In the end, the Kate Nickleby went on without any additional passengers. Clarke, Prince, and their captain believed their prospects were better aboard the Mary. Another crew member died, and weeks later, they limped into Demerara. The Kate Nickleby eventually reached the Clyde and Glasgow.
The Kate Nickleby was a West Indiaman, a generic name for merchant vessels that traded between Europe and the East Coast of the Americas. She plied the route between the British Isles and the British West Indies, particularly Demerara, in what was then British Guiana. Her cargo was typically sugar, rum, and other West Indian produce. Her voyages to and from Glasgow feature in shipping schedules during the 1840s. In April 1844, an auction notice placed in the Glasgow Citizen announced that the Kate Nickleby, a sequestered ship belonging to Duncan McIntyre, a grocer in Glasgow, was to be sold by public auction. A month earlier, she had arrived in the Clyde from Demerara. McIntyre's creditors seized their opportunity and effected a ship arrest.
On the nights of Sunday and Monday, 28 and 29 December 1846, the bodies of five men and a boy came ashore at Cross Drum and Plot Barrett in Erris. Some were greatly mutilated from being thrown against the rocks; a dog had eaten away the face of one. The dead suffered a final indignity when the people from the locality stripped them of their clothes. It was reported that one of the men had his finger cut off to facilitate taking his ring. On 31 December, Dr John Atkinson presided over an inquest into the deaths.
It was assumed the dead were from the Kate Nickleby wrecked on the coast during a heavy gale on the night of 23-24 December. It was believed the ship ran into difficulty near Inishglora or Inishkea islands. The local people took planks, ropes, and other parts of the wreck from the shore as quickly as the surf deposited them. Many empty puncheons were washed up, leading people to surmise that the vessel was outward bound for cargo when she encountered difficulty. Other reports suggested she was laden with a cargo of sugar, rum, and other West Indian produce. Whatever the truth, the Kate Nickleby was docked in Glasgow in the days before she was wrecked.
The items deposited on the shore included a lady's bonnet, boots, shoes, and a workbox. From these, it was surmised the captain's wife was aboard the ship. The logbook found on the shore indicated thirteen people were on the vessel. It was assumed the dead boy was the captain's son as he did not have the appearance of a common sailor boy. One of the dead men had the name Robert (in some reports, Thomas ) Martin tattooed on his hand.
The bodies were all interred at Cross Abbey Graveyard (See image courtesy of Gerry Sweeney ). The graveyard occupies a dramatic position surrounded by the Atlantic on three sides. Inishglora and other islands are visible in the distance.
The Kate Nickleby was one of several ships wrecked on the Irish, Scottish, Welsh, English, and Dutch coasts in severe gales in late December 1845. The loss of life and property was significant.
